Thursday, 13 October 2016

Muesli on my Brother’s Head

In
this picture book told in rhyming verse, a masked and caped boy about ten is
involved in a series of escapades where mess is involved. There’s ‘mashed sweet
potato on the bed’ and ‘honey in my granny’s shoe.’ The boy is responsible for
putting ‘Daddy’s ipad up a tree’ and ‘Mummy’s keys in her tea.’ In any
household the boy would be a plain nuisance – even messing with Aunty Lou Lou’s
pants and covering Uncle Joey’s red canoe with ‘some icky glue,’ but despite
admitting to ‘being bad’, the boy is not punished. After promising to obey, he's allowed ‘to stay’ but in
the final picture, accidentally spills a tray of cream.

It’s
not clear what the point of the overall story is, as except for the
accident, all other misdemeanors are wilful. Why would a child be so nasty to
his family? And especially why would he not pay for the consequences of his
actions?

The
illustrations, in watercolour, are child-like and not particularly appealing.
The book is suitable for readers aged 5 to 7 years.

This
is the second self-published book by the Australian author of Where Do Teachers Go at Night?